Machines such as large-capacity diesel engine systems used in connection with construction equipment, earth-moving equipment, transportation equipment (e.g., locomotives) and the like, are often implemented in adverse operating conditions. Typical operating conditions for such equipment can require extensive maintenance, repair and overhaul work to sustain the equipment and its components, including the engine systems. As a consequence of adverse equipment operating conditions, certain equipment components may be exhausted long before the expected end of their useful lives. This component exhaustion can occur despite efforts to ensure proper component installation and maintenance, including periodic maintenance of equipment oil supply and lubrication systems, for example. Extensive and premature wear of large-capacity diesel engines, for example, can be caused by a combination of factors, including inadequate lubrication of components prior to engine ignition, failure to adhere to prescribed maintenance schedules, failure to collect and analyze data associated with equipment operation, system malfunction, general misuse of the equipment, and other factors.
Methods and systems for data collection and analysis are therefore needed that can extend the useful life of equipment components. Component movement and interaction during various periods of equipment operation can impact the continued effective operation and useful life expectancy of the engine system. In connection with operation and/or maintenance of the engine system during such periods, important data such as, for example, temperature, oil pressure, time to evacuate an oil sump, and historical data regarding previous engine ignition cycles can be collected and analyzed. Conventional equipment methods and systems, however, typically do not collect and analyze data during various stages of machine operation to assist in operation or maintenance of the machine and its components.
Thus, what are needed are improved methods and systems for collecting and processing data in association with maintenance, repair and general operation of machines and equipment components.